Business Roundup

H. B. Fuller plans to exit the European polysulfide insulating glass sealants business, which it acquired from Henkel in 2006, because the business has become a commodity operation. Sales in 2009 were $25 million. The firm plans to take an after-tax charge of $8.1 million to account for severance and asset impairment costs.

Sasol plans to construct a $255 million ethylene purification unit at its polymers plant in Sasolburg, South Africa. The unit will boost ethylene production by 48,000 metric tons per year when it goes onstream in the second half of 2013.

AkzoNobel will spend $22 million to build a plant for organic peroxide plastics additives at its site in Ningbo, China. The plant will be part of a previously announced $360 million complex that also will make ethyleneamines and ethoxylated products.

Novozymes and China’s Dacheng Group will jointly develop biomass-based chemicals, in particular glycols for use in polyesters and plastics. Novozymes, an enzymes maker, notes that it also has biobased chemical agreements with Cargill in the U.S. and Braskem in Brazil.

Perstorp has doubled production of dipenta­erythritol at its Bruchhausen, Germany, facility and says it is on track to nearly triple capacity by the end of the year. Demand for the chemical is growing in high-solids coatings and lead-free polyvinyl chloride applications, the Swiss firm says.

GE Power & Water and ConocoPhillips have opened their Global Water Sustainability Center in the Qatar Science & Technology Park. The partners say researchers will develop water treatment techniques primarily for the petrochemical and petroleum sectors.

Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals will spend $6.25 million to expand its Lenexa, Kan., facility. By moving from three sites to one, the company will consolidate its milling of dry powder media used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Avecia Biotechnology will supply Pfizer with a key component of Macugen, a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration that Pfizer markets in Europe. Avecia will provide technology transfer, process validation, and commercial supply of a component of the oligonucleotide-based drug.

Bruker has been awarded a $1.1 million contract to supply a customized N8 Titanos atomic force microscope (AFM) to NIST’s Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, in Gaithersburg, Md. The AFM will be used for surface measurements in semiconductor optics, photonics, and biomedical areas.

Anacor Pharmaceuticals and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) will work together to find new treatments for malaria. With funding from MMV, Anacor will apply its boron chemistry platform to quell the parasite.